A selection of work from Dutch artist and illustrator Leonie Bo. Based in Amsterdam, Bos has shifted her focus toward painting and drawing by hand after many years working as an editorial illustrator for publications like The New York Times and The Guardian. She works mainly with acrylic and wax pastel on paper, creating figurative works from photographs of fleeting moments that catch her attention. Moving between observation and abstraction, Bos in interested in the tension between recognition and transformation—how a very specific image can gradually become something less defined:
“The photographs I ultimately choose as the basis for my paintings all meet certain criteria: striking combinations of shapes, volumes and layers. Oversized garments, folds of fabric, or an accumulation of accessories. These elements become my raw materials. I am fascinated by the way movement can disrupt a familiar form, how a jacket can lose its recognisable shape, how parts of the body can disappear from view, and how something almost abstract can emerge. The layering process is an essential part of this transformation. By working in reverse order, painting what appears to be in the foreground first and what belongs behind it afterward, I create cut-outs and residual shapes that begin to function as independent forms. The painting remains rooted in a real observation, while the logic of the image starts to shift. For me, painting is a continuous balancing act between staying true to the source image and allowing it to transform into something new.”
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